1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to a vehicle control system for a vehicle which is equipped with an engine, such as an internal combustion engine, as a drive power source.
2. Background Art
Modern vehicle control systems are known which operate in a coasting mode which stops an engine mounted in a vehicle to cut transmission of torque, as produced by the engine, to the drive wheels of the vehicle during deceleration of the vehicle to perform a natural deceleration in order to save fuel consumed in the engine.
For example, Japanese Patent No. 5304350 teaches a vehicle control system engineered to operate in the coasting mode. The vehicle control system works to measure an inclination of a road on which the vehicle is traveling and determine whether the coasting mode should be executed or not based on the measured inclination.
Specifically, the vehicle control system, as disclosed in the above publication, makes the determination of whether the coasting mode should be entered or not only when the position of an accelerator of the vehicle is zero, that is, the accelerator is not depressed by a vehicle operator or driver. This, however, results in a limited period of time in which the coasting mode is performed, thus leading to a limited reduction in consumption of fuel in the vehicle.